Improved bung-cutter



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. HARRIS, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED BUNG-CUTTER.

Specification forming part 01" Letters Patent No. 39,985, dated July 2l, 1863.

' this specification, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are side views of my imp foved tool for cutting bungs. Figs. 3 and 4 ase sectional representations of the tool, Fig. .L showing it applied to a piece of wood before cutting the bung, and Fig. 2 showing the position of the part-s after the bung is out. Fig. 5 is a side view of the tool, with the cutters withdrawn after a bung is cut and before the tool is raised from the Wood. Fig. 6 is a side view of the collar or sleeve and one of the cutters, showing the mode of connecting them, differing from that shown in Figs. l to 4. Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of Fig. 5, excepting that the parts are in the position they assume when the tool is raised from the wood.

1n the several gures like letters ot' reference denote similar parts.

My invention consists in certain improvements in tools for cuttingbungs for barrels out of pieces of wood or other material, the bung being a frustum of a conethat is, circular, and of greater diameter on one face or sde than on the other.

In the accompanying drawings, a is the stock of the tool, terminating in a cylindrical block of iron, b, of greater diameter than the stock a, and of sutticientlength to serve as a guide for the two knives or cutters c c, which pass through suitable grooves cut through the body b ofthe tool, as seen in Fig. 3. The stock a for a short distance above the body is also cylindrical, the sleeve d sliding up and down upon it. The stock and body ot' the tool are bored through axially, the centerpin j' workin g up and down in the bore e of the stock. The center-pin extends below the body b of the tool, and its lower extremity has a sharp edge all around its circumference, so as to takeinto the surface of the piece ot' wood of which the bung is to be made, as seen in Figs. 3 and 4. On the center-pinf is a collar, g, against which rests one end ofthe stron g spiral spring s, which surrounds the center-pin above the collar g.

The lower part of the bore e ofthe stock and body ot' the tool is increased in diameter, so as to receive the collar g and spring s. An annular piece, h,is let. into the bottom of the bo ly of the tool around the projecting' extremity of the ceuterpinf, and held in place by screws t, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) which prevent the center-piulrom dropping out. The sleeve d, to which are attached the knives or cutters c c, is secured to the cylindrical part ot' the stock a by a screw, t, which is screwed through the sleeve cl, so that its point enters a slot, u, in the side ot' the stock, thus allowing of a motion ofthe sleeve d up and down the stock a to a certain extent, as seen iu Figs. 3 and 4. lhe cutters or knives, which pass through the body b of the tool, are straight pieces of steel, with sharp cutting-edges at their lower end, the upper end of each being connected to the sleeve d by means of a link, 7c, the link kbeing pivoted at its upper end, at i', to the sleeve d, and at its lower end, at i, to the cutter c. This allows of the requisite motion to the cutters, which, as they descend, must lnove outward from the axis of the stock of the tool, as they are setin the body b, not parallel to its axis, but at the same angle to the axis of the tool as the sides of the bung are required to have to its axis. If preferred, the cutters may be attached immediately to the sleeve d, as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, by making the holes in the sleex'e l in which the pivots t" work sut'- tcient-ly wide to ad mit ofthe outward motion of the upper ends of the cutters c c.

Having thus described the construction of my improved bung-cutter, it remains to explain brie'tly the mode of its operation. The upper end of the stock being placed in a suitable machine to communicate to it a rotary motion on its axes, the lower extremity ot' the center-pin fis placed on the piece of Wood from which the bungs are to be made, and the stock is depressed until the pin j'recedes into the bore ot the stock and body as far as the spring will permit, thereby holding the piece of wood very firmly down, and the pressure being applied in the center of the circle described by the rotation of the knives c c, the bung B which is being cut from the piece of wood A is held firmly until it is entirely severed from the residue of the piece of wood. Were :it not for this arrangement, the bung B would have a tendency to move with the cutters, and at the end of the cut would tear away from the wood7 leaving a splintered and rough edge to the bung at the thicker end. The center-pinf7 being forced downward by the spring s, also serves to deliver the bung from the cutters when the tool is raised, for, were it not so held-down when the tool is raised after the bung is eut, the bung would adhere to the cutters, and, the larger diameter being downward when the bung is cut, the tool could not be readily removed from the wood. When the stock of the tool is thus depressed, the sleeve d is lowered, so as to pre-ss the end ot' thecutters on the surface of the wood, when,

by rotation of the tool, which turns on, or rather with, the een ter-pin f, an annular groove is cut in the wood, leaving the bung B in the center. As soon as the wood is cut through, the bung is nished, and, the tool being raised, the center-pinfholds down the bun g, as before stated, until the cutters are clear, as in Fig. 5.

Having thus described my improved bungcutter, what I claim thereon as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Placing the knives or cutters in grooves in the body of the tool at the angle required to he given to the sides of the bungs, substantially as described.

2. Attaching the knives or cutters to the sleeve either by a toggle joint or link or by a pivot working in a slotted pivot-hole, so as to allow the cutters to spread inptheir descent through the wood without varying the angle of deilection from the aXis of the tool.

3. The use of a loose center-pin in the axis or center ofthe tool, pressed downward by a strong spiral spring, ior the purpose of centering the tool, holding` the bung while it is being cut, and delivering the tool from the wood after the operation is iinished, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I, the said CHARLES W. HARRIS, have hereunto set my hand.

CEAS. W. HARRIS.

Witnesses J. C. ATTERBURY, J. D. HANCOCK. 

